Google Just Broke Amazon's Workaround For YouTube On Fire TV (cordcuttersnews.com)

Google has cracked down on Fire TV users once again. Today, the technology company blocked Silk and Firefox browsers from displaying the YouTube.com interface usually shown on large screens. Cord Cutters News reports: Now if you try to access YouTube.com/TV on a Fire TV through the Firefox or Silk browser you will be redirected to the desktop version of the site. According to Elias Saba from AFTVnews, "By blocking access to the version of YouTube made for television browsers, Google has deliberately made browsing their website an unusable experience on Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Edition televisions." This fight over YouTube and Amazon has been going on for some time. The standoff heated up in early December as Google announced plans to pull the YouTube app from the Fire TV on January 1st 2018. Amazon responded by adding a browser to allow access to the web version on the Fire TV. Now Google has countered by blocking the Fire TV's browsers from accessing the made-for-TV edition of YouTube.com. Back on December 15th, The Verge reported that Google and Amazon are in talks to keep YouTube on the Fire TV, but as of today it looks like nothing has come from these talks.

Comments

Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

So much for Net Neutrality?!

Re:Net Neutrality

[Dayze!Confused]

Or their policy to not be evil.

Re:Net Neutrality

[luvirini]

The do no evil policy was ditched a long time ago.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Plus1Entropy]

I don't see what a content provider restricting access to their own content has to do with Net Neutrality.

I host a website. If I don't want you to access content on it, too bad. If I only let you access content on it using Internet Explorer 6, too bad.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Plus1Entropy]

PS: Just to clarify, Google is being a dick. They're just not breaking NN.

Re:Net Neutrality

[pots]

No, Google isn't the problem here. Amazon is trying to keep their content off of everyone else's platforms, while retaining everyone else's content.

Google just wants to spy on you, they're generally very happy to do so in an accommodating cross-platform way. Amazon wants to spy on you and be a monopolistic walled garden.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

I despise amazon but everything you mentioned is Amazon doing what is, while not friendly, completely reasonable business with a competitor, you are under no obligation to do anything for a competitor or their products and they certainly started it. BUT, Google retaliated not through business means but by attacking users. Pulling support for Fire TV google app was as far as they should have gone, the current attack is a step way way too far once you start actively attempting to attack users

Re:Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody is "hurt" because they're "forced" to watch the desktop version of Youtube.

Get a grip on reality, please.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

For a car analogy, how about if a car that would let you drive through McDonalds but not Burger King. Other manufacturers would be BK only, and then the japanese car would only let you drive to Suchi Bars, you'll have to walk if you want Italian for dinner.

Here Google is going out of their way to degrade Amazon customer's user experience. The one silver lining is that Google, Apple and Amazon don't seem to be colliding to make their customers cash out more money, although the revenue models of the 3 is still quite different they do compete on many levels. That's refreshing from the time Apple and Google had an illegal non poaching agreement to screw their employees from getting a fair salary.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

How's that net neutrality looking these days, huh Google?

Oh that's right, Google says one thing and does another. Keep playing both sides of the field you freaks.
Fuck Google. Even their people are a bunch of unthinking whiny-ass far-left PC idiots. Can't tell a dick from a brick. ...and these people basically own the planet right now. We should be worried.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Plus1Entropy]

This is defeating the whole point of "net neutrality."

No it isn't. You don't have a right to access content if the content owner doesn't want you to. If you don't have an HBO Now account, you can't watch Game of Thrones. That doesn't violate Net Neutrality.

Re:Net Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is there a difference in the right to choose which product you sell and who you deliver content to?

I can't see how what google does is worse. Google delivers a web service for everyone and a special end user experience for some customers who where selected for that experience. Amazon found a loophole that allowed them to deliver the second experience despite not being in the selected group and google closed that loophole.

Re: Net Neutrality

[orlanz]

This has nothing to do with net neutrality nor its intent. Stop adding confusion to that topic, there are enough people who don't know what that is.

Re:Net Neutrality

[pots]

Total [google.com] fucking [apple.com] bullshit [roku.com].

The only one of those that applies here is Roku. The other links just go to the iTunes store and Google Play. Amazon Prime was only added to the Apple TV last month, and it's still not available for the Chromecast - the device that actually matters for this story.

Also, your rant about stores is... ridiculous. Google has first-party products and sells them through a first-party store, that's fine. Amazon has first party products and sells them through their store, that's fine too. The thing is, Amazon's store is way more than first-party. Let's pick another product, let's say paper towels - Google also doesn't sell paper towels through their store. Why? Because it's a first-party store and Google doesn't make paper towels. I am not going to criticize Google for neglecting to sell paper towels through their store. I would criticize Amazon for not selling paper towels, because that's exactly the sort of thing that I would expect to be able to buy there.

And while I'm at it, this "Google controlling the operating system" is not really true and it's one of the virtues of Android. In fact, Amazon has their own Android products which Google has no influence over. Google does control the Play Store, which gives it a lot of influence, probably too much. But as you point out, Amazon Prime is available through the Play Store... but only since last August. Why? Because for the last couple years Amazon has been trying to force people to download it through their own storefront, Amazon Underground.

We need some App Neutrality

[Anonymous Coward]

It's about damn time someone brought this websites to heel and force them to cooperate with each other.

Net neutrality for me but not for thee

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

I thought Google was in favor of net neutrality. What is it to them how people access their public web browser interfaces?

Are they liars?